I want everyone out there to be aware of the scam this shop tries to pull.
I dropped my car off at 8 am and at 9:30 am I received a strange phone call from the shop which consisted of "Has anyone been messing around with your car?" well no except for Jiffy lube and pep-boys for repairs here and there. Why the question with no reason to ask I thought? I also thought is there something weird you have found I should know about? Well this will make more sense toward the end of my story.
I recently had a situation where the check engine light came on and the car had trouble accelerating and shifting out of first or second gear. I was told it was the transmission by another mechanic and he suggested taking the vehicle to AAMCO or to the dealer. I chose AAMCO because they specialize in transmissions. I was informed by AAMCO that they had checked the car diagnostically and the codes were for the transmission however they were not ELECTRICAL codes but rather MECHANICAL codes and the trans would need to be taken out of the car, taken apart and possibly overhauled costing no less than $1500. When I said no thank you I will be in to pick up my car I received a phone call from the store serviceman about a half hour later offering me a "feasible alternative" which he was "confident would have the car problems solved". The story suddenly changed as far as what was causing the trouble with my car. It was no longer a mechanical problem located on the inside of the transmission but rather a problem with the solenoid sensors on the outside of the transmission. But the catch here was the solenoid sensors are located (according to him) in a panel on the outside of the trans which requires the trans to be removed from the car in order to access these solenoid sensors. Seriously?? Suddenly went from mechanical to electrical but this would only cost me at least $800. I politely declined and proceeded to drive 15-20 mph all the way to Lincolnwood Illinois where the car dealership is located.
It turns out the car dealership said I do not need a new transmission nor new solenoid sensors nd the transmission. The car has some wore out wires which run along the underside of the vehicle that had been pinched are spliced and corroded and need replacing. Fixing it at the dealership did not even cost 1/3 of what the AAMCO shop wanted to charge me. The dealership price also included a new O2 sensor and installation along with the price of the diagnostic workup.
I wonder if the AAMCO noticed these wires and that was the reason for the question regarding has anyone been messing around with your car? Even if they did not notice this I believe they are incompetent and do not know how to properly diagnose a vehicles transmission problems or just plain crooks out to take as much money from consumers as they can by pretending to conduct unnecessary repairs on vehicles. It is a shame thet someone would try to take advantage of another person like this. This shop lives up to the stereo-type given to auto mechanics regarding ripping people off. I want to share my experience so hopefully this does not happen to anybody else.

Hi Everyone,
We are really pissed off with AAMCO. Our car (98 Honda Civic) had a Engine Check Light On, so my husband called AAMCO and asked about Free Engine Check service (as we saw the add on the TV) KEN (the guy at Lake Forest, CA location) said bring your car on Monday at 8:30am and we'll check it. My husband took the car on Monday and KEN said it will take about 4 hours to get the free estimate, so my husband called me to pick him up and drop him off at work. Then after 4&1/2hours we went back to AAMCO to get our estimate. KEN said I know the problem & your info is saved in the system and i have the CODE, but it will cost you $85 to know what is really wrong with the car. We were really upset because KEN didn't tell us that it will take over 4hours, he said nothing about the coupon or anything about the free service requirements. KEN wasted our whole day. We are really unhappy about the service & we won't recommend it to anybody.

I had taken my car to Aamco to have the transmission replaced in July. They gave me a quote that seemed a little high and I couldn't afford it at the time, so I bought a transmission with a 101 day warranty and took it to them to install. They told me it would take about a week til they could get around to it. I was fine with that except I called everyday and they kept telling me it would be done tomorrow.

After a week and a half, the guy tells me the trans. wouldn't work because it was $1, 100 and a 30 day warranty but they wouldn't put it in writing. I drove it for 5 days and then it started making all these noises. I took it back to them and they said the trans. was fine but it needed an axle and a bunch of other parts. Bill= $600. By the way, the *** I was dealing with previously was fired or quit or something.

Drove the car for a week and the trans. left me stranded 2 hours away from home. Had AAA tow it to Aamco. They said there was no warranty on any of the previous work and were going to charge $450 just to look at it. I argued with the guy for about an hour and didn't get anywhere. I had a tow truck come and get the car. Ended up paying $1700 and was without a car for 2 months.

Transmission failed while still on warranty. Took the car to Rubens AAMCO in Moca, PR. They have had the car for 37 days! During this time, after a full month, the car was returned to me with the transmission "fixed". I drove the car to the store, and the transmission failed again the same day. I had to have the car towed back to them. The manager of the repair station, which is an AAMCO branch center, rarely returns my phone calls when I inquire as to what is happening with the car. He constantly comes up with lame excuses as to why it is taking so long. This is a ridiculously long time to repair a car. Oh, and the center keeps changing phone numbers. The number shown above is the latest one.

In February 2009 I took my car to Aamco to replace my transmission. The gears were slipping that caused the car to jerk. They put in a used transmission and assured me that my car will be in complete working order when they are done with it without any problems. About a week later I received my car back and it seemed to be working good until the next day I felt the jerking in my car again. I called them and they said to bring it back and later said that it needed another used transmission. So I was stuck without a car for another week and had to rent one. When I got my car back for the second time, the SAME problem happened. But this time I took it to my original dealership to get their advice on what was going on with my tranny. This is Audi by the way. Audi said that the tail shaft of the tranny that Aamco had put in was leaking! So I took it back yet a THIRD time and they said they just had to adjust some things in the tranny to stop the jerking and leaking.
Now for the third time, I had to rent a car for a few days again. When I got back my car, the leaking was fixed but a few days later...the jerking starts again AND my starter was making a buzzing noise when I started the car. I was so furious when I had to go back a FOURTH time. This time, they blamed the jerking on the computer in my car and its not their fault. They also said that my starter is going bad because my car is an old car. Mind you, it is only a 2000. I was fed up when they told me all this and told them that I am reporting them to Aamco headquarters which I'm currently in the process of. I am also getting a lawyer to get all my money back hopefully. I paid then $4, 200 for this crappy job!!! NEVER GO TO AAMCO, PLEASE SAVE YOURSELF THE HEADACHE!